Seaside Heights plans seawall with MTV funds

Feb. 26, 2013

The heavily damaged Casino Pier in Seaside Heights is shown from one of the helicopters traveling with Vice President Joe Biden's November tour of the superstorm Sandy damage along the Jersey Shore. / THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

This Oct. 24, 2012 photo shows 'Jersey Shore' cast members, from left, Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Paul 'Pauly D' Delvecchio, Deena Cortese, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola and Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi at a panel entitled 'Love, Loss, (Gym, Tan) and Laundry: A Farewell to the Jersey Shore' in New York. MTV, home of the 'Jersey Shore' reality show, plans to air a fundraising special to help rebuild New Jersey's devastated shoreline. The one-hour program will air Nov. 15 from MTV's Times Square studio in New York City. It will feature the cast of 'Jersey Shore' along with other guests. The network said Monday the program will solicit contributions for the rebuilding of Seaside Heights, the heart of the Jersey shore and the principal setting for the 'Jersey Shore' series. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file) / Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

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SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Snooki, Pauly D and the rest of the cast of “Jersey Shore” drew crowds and controversy over four summers in the borough, but their final act could leave the greatest impression.

The cast of the MTV hit reality show helped raise $1 million during a benefit broadcast in November.

Now, Seaside Heights officials want to use that money for a seawall that could protect the boardwalk where the gang partied and played until summer 2012, shortly before superstorm Sandy crashed into the real Jersey Shore.

Mayor Bill Akers had other projects in mind for the funds, but said this week that a seawall seems the best fit because it benefits the entire community. Arthur Fierro, president of Seaside Heights’ Property Owners Association, agreed.

“It benefits everybody in town,” he said. “Having a seawall doesn’t just protect the boardwalk, it protects the community.” Click on the thumbnail images above to watch videos of rebuilding efforts in Seaside Heights. Using our mobile app? Watch the latest raw video here.

Because the borough plans to use the benefit money, it needs MTV to approve plan, John Camera, the borough’s administrator, said. And MTV’s partner for the benefit, Architecture For Humanity, a group of architects and engineers that help with building projects after disasters, will handle the preliminary design, he said.

Camera said officials here hope MTV agrees with their idea to use the benefit money.

The borough cannot seek FEMA reimbursement for the wall because it is a new project and using the benefit funds would minimize any burden on taxpayers, Camera said. He estimates the wall could cost between $1 million and $2 million.

“The seawall seems a perfect use of the MTV money so people who donated know it went into something extra, not just getting the boardwalk rebuilt, but actually protecting it,” he said.

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An MTV spokesperson said no final decisions have been made yet and MTV is still in discussions on how to best utilize the funds.

Professor Stewart Farrell, who directs the Coastal Science Center at Richard Stockton College, described a seawall as a vertical or near vertical hard structure built on a shoreline some distance from the high tide. The strength of the wall largely determines how effective it is as protection, Farrell said.

“Waves hitting a vertical surface expend all energy on it and if it buckles at all, it doesn’t last very long,” he said.

However, the size and location of the wall on the beach can also make a difference.

Sea Bright had a wide beach and a 28-foot high rock-based seawall, but the force of Sandy pushed the beach sand up to the wall and waves rushed right over it, Farrell said. During Sandy, the breaking waves were also over 30 feet high, at least in Long Branch, he said.

Seaside Heights officials considered the wall over a dune. Camera said he has read a large dune system offers the best protection, but a substantial enough dune would impact beach access, space on the beach, and visibility of the ocean from the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.

Camera said he feels confident in their preliminary plan for the seawall.

The boardwalk’s deck was previously and will be rebuilt to be 14 feet above sea level, though it appears only about 7 feet above the sand, Camera said. That height puts it on par with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s advisory base flood elevation, he said.

Borough officials are still researching what material is best, but are considering concrete, corrugated vinyl, steel or aluminum sheathing, Camera said.

The seawall would be built on the eastern side of the boardwalk and its height would be level with the deck, Camera said.

Borough officials want the wall to run the one-mile length of the boardwalk, but still must address how to work around Casino Pier and the few buildings that also sit east of the boardwalk, he said.